What the camera saw in the Mirror

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"I for one certainly feel sorry for the position Les Dixon and the national panel are put in because they are certainly prepared to settle".

The speaker-addressing a TV camera in his board room vas Ted Blackmore, producfion director of the Mirror Group of Newspapers-the man trying to push through £1.5 million worth of new echnology.

His sympathy was for the lational president of the National Graphical Associaion, who, in theory at least vas his opponent in this Irive for "progress' Dixon was off camera, omewhere, being given a ammering by the FoCs Those members jobs he was elling.

The question sadly, was inly how long it would take Pixon and the Mirror management to wear them own.

This was the plot of the BC documentary last week the introduction of new technology to the Mirror Group. The company was preparing to pay out-in addition to the equipment£8 million in redundancy money.

They stood to regain their money at the rate of million each year.

Already installed

Theoretically the talks were about whether the equipment would be introduced.

In fact as the cameras lovingly revealed the new, equipment, complete with display terminals and electronic keyboards, was already installed in a brand new print Ioom. The printers were merely haggling over the price.

The film was made by Elwyn Parry-Jones, who has specialised in TV films about the newspaper industry.

While management allowed the cameras to film the most intimate discussions on tactics and while the NGA executive voted to give full cooperation to the film, the FoCs threatened to walk out of the talks if the cameras were allowed inside.

Parry-Jones stood ineffectively outside the Daily Mirror building, waving his microphone at printers coming out and being ignored by them.

His ingratiating manner and sly insinuation of knowing more than he did, said more about the habits of Fleet Street than all the Mirror board's moans about "Spanish customs" and "Bingo nights"

Class position

Despite surface slime his class position was spotted immediately by the printers.

The programme rapidly developed into a cosy triumvirate of Parry-Jones, Blackmore and Dixon, broken only at the point of contact with the working class.

Dixon, coming out of a meeting ahead of the FoCs flung up his hands in horror when he saw the camera.

His expression was straight from one of those formula SITATE LET BALY SALE TA Margaret and Tony.

SE Begins today THE MADOLD WILSON PENCOURT FILE BAITERALL BERIND CLOSED DOORS TURN TO PAGE 159 The programme played up the claim from the printers (over £200 a week, a 3day, 28-hour week, and eight weeks holiday). It played down to the point of ignoring Holywood films where the big time gangster is visited by one of his small time henchmen and frantically whispers "How many times have I told you not to visit me here?"

BEBOR ROSNA HAROLD it, the 97 lost.

"Obviously they would like a higher rate" Dixon told the camera after 'one particularly hard meeting with the shop floor. "That comes out quite clearly. But 1 had to make it clear that. as far as the Mirror management were concerned, that was the end of it"

The programme provided an inside view of the open collaboration between the union bureaucracy and the employers Executive Despite endless patience and sympathy for Dixon, the management at times looked like giving up the softly, softly approach. Blackmore said:

"I think we will have to call the national executive of the NGA and ask it what they want to do about it. We can't go on like this with the tail wagging the dog"

The "tail" was the membership of the union. The "dog" was the leadership. Blackmore openly talked of sacking the printers and calling in scab labour.

Since the Jocal leadership had no perspective for a fight against the job cuts, the end result was inevitable. They settled for £174, six weeks holiday and a four day week.

Dixon congratulated himself. He did not know (and Parry-Jones did not remind us) that at the very beginning of the programme that was exactly the deal (give or take £4) that the management had privately said they would be prepared to concede.

The programme was timed to go out on the night that the new technology was used for the first time. Unfortunately for Parry-Jones the Mirror printers walked out, refusing to set Reveille on the new presses.

It was only expected to be a temporary hold-up. Probably the work of those FoCs again. You never can trust people when they are off camera.

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NDUSTRIAL Jo rn rsh all Cavel dis do n, re strike in an effort to obtain fulfilment of a wage NEWS

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HOW SIR HELPED THE QUEEN